I have never owned a BTS before, and just under two weeks ago I finally took the plunge and purchased a juvenile (reptile shop owner said he/she is six months old) Indonesian BTS - Noodle! I did initially have my heart set on a Northern (as the college I attended had the sweetest Northern BTS I've ever met), but I've only ever seen Indonesian's available in my area, so maybe Northerns are harder to come by? Anyway, the owner of the reptile shop said that BTS's aren't agoraphobic like some other reptiles can be, so I decided to go ahead and get a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft as I know I'll need that size when my bub is fully grown. I'm spritzing the set-up a couple of times a day to keep the vivarium humid, and have provided some hides as I'd heard that skinks like to hide. Since I've had Noodle, he/she has been eating really well (crickets, fruits, boiled egg and omnigold so far, as the reptile shop owner advised), so that's a big relief seeing as I was a bit worried about getting him/her to start feeding consistently.
I suppose the only big question I have at the moment is handling related - given the fact I haven't even had Noodle for a fortnight yet, I don't want to freak him/her out. He/she is also in the middle of shedding, so I don't want to try and start handling if the shed period is a time where I should leave him/her well alone? Sometimes when I put my hand in to take food and water out, he/she puffs a little, and tonight when I sat by the vivarium while Noodle was out exploring, when he came up to the glass he almost 'squared up' to me
and puffed up/inflated his body a bit which I figured is just another defense mechanism? Given that the vivarium is in my room, I'm trying to be quiet and slow when walking next to it, but I'm torn between speaking normally/moving around a lot near the glass in order to get him used to me, or tiptoeing around so I don't freak him out? I know I have to be patient and work at it, and given that we aren't even on week 2 yet I shouldn't try and run before I can walk, but seeing as I'm new to all this I don't want to traumatize the poor little guy so was hoping for tips on getting youngsters to warm up to you. I've read other threads that've discussed hand feeding and so on, but I'm just a bit worried about being bitten
Here are some pictures of my set up! Please bear in mind that I haven't finished decorating and have since added a few bits of greenery
